How Pharaoh sailed to Karnak

Al Ahram Weekly (Nevine El-Aref)

History has a special scent and taste at Karnak Temple. The emotions it evokes are powerful and timeless. Inside the lofty pylons is amassed an unsurpassed assembly of soaring obelisks, awe-inspiring chapels and hushed sanctuaries reflecting the spectacular life and great civilisation of ancient Egypt. Although most of Karnak has been thoroughly excavated, the complex still conceals and occasionally reveals more of the Pharaohs' secrets and mysteries.

During 18 months of excavations at the front of the temple, Egyptian archaeologists have stumbled upon several important discoveries that are leading them to reconsider the history and plan of the temples. The discoveries have included a Ptolemaic ceremonial bath, a private ramp for the 25th-Dynasty Pharaoh Taharqa, a large number of bronze coins, an ancient dock and the remains of a wall that once protected the temples of Karnak from the rising Nile flood.

These discoveries came within the framework of the Karnak Development Project, which is aimed at protecting the temple from progressive infringements as well as restoring its monuments and removing all building encroachment from in front of the temple. It will also allow excavations to uncover the ancient harbour and canal that once connected the temple to the Nile. According to an old map, the ancient Egyptians used this canal to gain access to the west bank of the river in a position corresponding to Hatshepsut's Deir Al-Bahari Temple, which was built on the same axis.

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